Open Season: A Joe Pickett Novel

C.J. Box’s Open Season is a rare debut mystery that “immediately sets itself apart from the crowd” (Booklist). This thrilling novel stars Joe Pickett, a game warden in Wyoming who finds his life in danger after he looks into a murder investigation and discovers a conspiracy involving an oil pipeline and its threat to an endangered species.

Back of Beyond

Cody Hoyt, while a brilliant cop, is an alcoholic struggling with two months of sobriety when his mentor and AA sponsor Hank Winters is found burned to death in a remote mountain cabin. At first it looks like the suicide of a man who’s fallen off the wagon, but Cody knows Hank better than that....

Blue Heaven

A 12-year-old girl and her younger brother go on the run in the woods of northern Idaho, pursued by four men they have just watched commit murder - four men who know exactly who the children are, and where their desperate mother is waiting patiently by the phone for news of her children's fate.

An Obvious Fact

In the midst of the largest motorcycle rally in the world, a young biker is run off the road and ends up in critical condition. When Sheriff Walt Longmire and his good friend, Henry Standing Bear, are called to Hulett, Wyoming - the nearest town to America's first national monument, Devils Tower - to investigate, things start getting complicated.

Three Weeks to Say Goodbye

Jack and Melissa McGuane have spent years trying to have a baby. Finally their dream has come true with the adoption of their daughter, Angelina. But nine months after bringing her home, they receive a devastating phone call from the adoption agency: Angelina's birth father, a teenager, never signed away his parental rights, and he wants her back.

Iron Lake: Cork O'Connor, Book 1

Anthony Award-winning author William Kent Krueger crafts this riveting tale about a small Minnesota town’s ex-sheriff who is having trouble retiring his badge. Cork O’Connor loses his job after being blamed for a tragedy on the local Anishinaabe Indian reservation. But he must set aside his personal demons when a young boy goes missing on the same day a judge commits suicide—and no one but O’Connor suspects foul play.

Hard Country: A Novel

National best-selling author and New Mexico native Michael McGarrity takes listeners to the wild territory of the late 19th-century American Southwest for this epic tale. After the deaths of his wife and brother, John Kerney gives up his West Texas ranch and heads south in search of a new home. Soon Kerney is offered work trailing cattle to the New Mexico Territory - a job that will forever change his life.

The Royal Wulff Murders

A local fisherman lands more than he bargained for when he pulls a dead body out of Montana’s Madison River. Sheriff Martha Ettinger takes on the case and soon comes into the company of reclusive artist, Montana newcomer, and ex-PI Sean Stranahan. After teaming up to investigate, Martha and Sean soon uncover evidence that the murder has ties to one of the state’s biggest industries: fly fishing.

The Cold Dish: A Walt Longmire Mystery

Award-winning author Craig Johnson's critically acclaimed debut Western mystery takes listeners to the breathtaking mountains of Wyoming for a tale of cold-blooded vengeance. Four high-school boys were given suspended sentences for raping a Cheyenne girl. Now, two of the boys have been killed, and only Sheriff Walt Longmire can keep the other two safe.

The Wrong Side of Goodbye: A Harry Bosch Novel, Book 21

Harry Bosch is California's newest private investigator. He doesn't advertise, he doesn't have an office, and he's picky about who he works for, but it doesn't matter. His chops from 30 years with the LAPD speak for themselves. Soon one of Southern California's biggest moguls comes calling. The reclusive billionaire has less than six months to live and a lifetime of regrets. He hires Bosch to find out whether he has an heir.

Escape Clause: A Virgil Flowers Novel, Book 9

The first storm comes from, of all places, the Minnesota zoo. Two large and very rare Amur tigers have vanished from their cage, and authorities are worried sick that they've been stolen for their body parts. Traditional Chinese medicine prizes those parts for home remedies, and people will do extreme things to get what they need. Some of them are a great deal more extreme than others - as Virgil is about to find out.

Devils in Exile: A Novel

Neal Maven returns to Boston from his tour in Iraq only to discover that the country he vowed to protect has little use for him now. Armed with a highly specialized set of skills he can't use and bitter toward the rest of his generation -- the men and women who remained stateside, and are therefore years ahead of him both personally and professionally -- Maven fears he is near his breaking point.

Publisher's Summary

An Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, Gumshoe, and Barry Award winner, C. J. Box delivers the second pulse-pounding installment in his critically acclaimed series. While investigating a string of bizarre murders, Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett is forced to flee across treacherous terrain with a deadly tracker on his trail.

What the Critics Say

"Laconic Joe Pickett returns to his slightly offbeat duties in Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains in C. J. Box's Savage Run. Joe is called to the scene when an exploding cow kills a famous ecoterrorist, Stewie Woods, and his bride of three days, who were peacefully spiking trees. A visit to the cow's pugnacious owner leaves Joe defensive, angry, and curious: Why doesn't the rancher ask any questions about the bizarre accident that happened on his land? Then Joe's wife, Marybeth, begins receiving phone calls from her high-school boyfriend - the peculiarly healthy-sounding Stewie Woods. Stewie may or may not be alive, but his old pal Hayden Powell and other environmental activists are all turning up deceased in strange circumstances. As the body count climbs, Joe tries to sort out the bad guys, the good guys, and the truly dead guys in this sometimes funny, sometimes angry [novel]. Box depicts the spare beauty and cussed individualism of the intermountain West with the sure hand of a seasoned writer." (Amazon.com review)

Yes. I found the plot interesting and the characters well-developed. Yes, it isn't a traditional mystery as we already know who the bad guys are, but Mr Box develops the setting so well that it becomes another character. I live in the mountains of Colorado and life is quite similar to life in WY. Hunting, fishing, ams... I think Mr Box does a great job of illustrating the type of lives that are lived in the rural West.

Some reviewers said they found Joe Pickett to be too weak. I don't think of him as weak. He is a pacifist, a lover of nature, and a family man. He does the job he does because he truly believes that the animals and land should be protected. He carries a weapon only because it is required and would much rather not do so. To me, that isn't weak, in fact, it is the opposite. He has strong convictions and isn't swayed by outside sources. I respect that in people and I respect it in this character.

Instead of the cowboys against the farmers (Oklahoma!,) it's the gentleman ranchers against the environmentalists! It's a good story, and Box's descriptions of the wild country in Wyoming are marvelous. This is not really a mystery, since we know who the bad guys are and it isn't hard to guess who is behind their killing spree. As a result, the plot seems thin, too slow and stretching beyond the limits of credibility at times. I read this after reading Force of Nature, book #12, which I liked better but also suffered from some of the same plot defects. I like the protagonist Joe Pickett, but he can't possibly be so naive as he sometimes says or acts. The environmental activist, Stewie Woods, is a more multi-dimensional and believable character than Joe Pickett. Toward the end, too many rabbits are pulled out of the hat to make the denouement fully satisfying.

David Chandler adds a lot to the pleasure of listening, his narration and portrayal of characters are terrific.

I thought the book was well written and well preformed. There was some bloody details involving animals that seemed sensationalized. I think the book would have been just as strong without those parts. The ending left me cold. I could think of half a dozen ways to end the story that might have made our hero more of a hero. I do like the character of Joe Picket, he is humble and understated. He reminds me a little of the Jim Chee character in the famous Tony Hillerman books.

Joe Pickett is a family man and one of the few Game Wardens in Wyoming, he has a steady moral compass and is an intellegent, lawful man. In this second addition to the series Joe gets wrapped up in an environmental feud. After radicals set off an explosion in the deep woods, an investigation reveals that a cow and possibly two people were accidentally killed. Joe knows that there is more to it than that and goes back later to look into it further. When he is shot at with a long range rifle he knows his suspicions were correct and is now on foot and on the run in a heavily wooded, rugged terrain.

I have read quite a few books in this series and this one was not bad but I think the writing is better in the later books. It was nice to have a little more insight into Joe's personal life and how hard it was for he and Mary Beth, his wife, when he first took the job. I am looking forward to the newest release in this series, "Endangered ".

Savage Run is set on an interesting historical premise, C.J.Box's writing leaves his protagonist Joe Pickett coming off as a real wimpy guy. Pickett can't seem to speak up or express himself when confronted by bad guys. He just seems to cower in corners and Box doesn't get much into Picketts personality or motivations, other than the families lack of funds.

I purchased 3 audio books in this series and doubt I'll buy more. I wouldn't waste my credit.

This is the second Joe Pickett noel I've read. I find Joe Pickett to be an uninteresting and actually stupid hero. As a game warden in Wyoming, he should be skilled outdoorsman yet he continually makes stupid choices or shows lack of knowledge. For instance in one case he needs to pull another person up using a rope; he just pulls, he doesn't use a nearby tree or even his own body as a belay. I could go on, there is much worse, but people don't like spoilers. This book has a basic plot which is actually potentially a very good plot, but it is ruined by turning most of the characters into caricatures. Even the 'normal' people are one dimensional. This is too bad because the challenges of the American West are really important and complex and don't deserve to be treated in this cartoonish way. (I say this as a westerner.)

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I would never choose to listen to a David Chandler narration. I didn't find him unbearable but he was pretty flat and certainly did not add to the story.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Savage Run?

It wouldn't be saveable in that way. C. J. Box needs to have a better understanding of people, of the west and of the complex challenges of the Rocky Mountain West. There are so many competing wishes and needs, and perceived as well as legal rights. The allliances that arise from the changing nature of the western United States change often and are unpredictable; it is far from black and white in any area.

Any additional comments?

I do wonder if C. J. Box has gotten any better in later books in the series; I won't be finding out. I only finished reading this book to give it a thorough review. If it were up to me, I would add a bunch of 'spoilers' so other potential readers would know it's not just an off day for me.